Will a late wedge slider fit an early wedge???

[holeydub on 4wheels]

Any ideas???

[VWCamperfan]

I think this may be possible but from what I have heard there's a lot of work and alterations involved.

[PEET]

Not easily, 20 plus hours of work involved...

[holeydub on 4wheels]

damn! oh well so i take it as long as its got the large outer handle it fit mine? or is there a cut of date??

[VWCamperfan]

Both. Yes and...Yes! 1982 sometime IIRC.

[jason k]

84 /85 was the crossover year.

[billy739]

i am definatly going to check this , as from what i can see it should be no more than 2 hours work!



the actual door fits in the hole no problem , and i have an late van at the mo with an early slider in the hole. i know that fits on the rollers ect.

as far as i am aware on the rear pillar you just need to weld the latch bracket onto the early van (2 x 1 inch welds)

i havent looked at the b pillar yet , but this looks like it may take an hour or so , as you may need to cut a 4 inch section from a late bus and wel it to the early bus.

i have seen it the other way ,early door on a late bus , this was done in about 1/2 hour with no problems!

i cant understand why it isant a regular mod, but on the other hand most reasons are rot , and just the lower part ,yet no one wants to have a repaired door but will happily buy 2nd hand , new panels are cheap,and as long as fitted well are as good as!

[holeydub on 4wheels]

my doors probably repairable and i've got schofield inner and outer repair panels (as far as im aware are the closet to genuine for fitment) but im not confident that the door is good enough as it seems to bow in the middle which is really noticeable from the inside when its closed... worst comes to worst i'll just but another kippered door and repair the better of the two...

its just a shame as theres a decent green one in the for sale section , would have prefered a white one but at least its rust free and comes with a sliding window

[billy739]

just my opinion , but it dosent look like a factory window , if it makes a difference.
just remember when you remove the window to repaint rust prrof the window hole , maybe wax the lip in the rubber as they all seem to rust from hear!

i could supply a caravelle factory window door inc window for less money

[PEET]

There was someone who actually done the mod on here or BYrd a few years ago and that was the time quoted - cant actually tell u who it was but I remember he was pretty clued up bout doing it. You have to replace the rear pillar as opposed to puttin a plate on it the rear end of the door actually pushes into the pillar making it a stronger locking action and less suscepitble to bursting in an impact, it was done for safety reasons.

Yeah yeah I'm an anorack but I jus remember what I read which makes me a dustbin of knowledge!

[jason k]

yeah thats what i thought peet. the angles on the pillars are completly different.

and yup your an anorak!!!

[holeydub on 4wheels]

oh well just have to keep it on the lsit for a rust free one... anyway just replaced the ineer and outer skins nothing special but is more solid and keeps out any road rubbish...

[billy739]

think you wil find the pillars are exactly the same!
look at the early pillar , then a late one, a late one has a bracket welded to it to take the pin that the latch goes on to , takes about 2 mins to weld the bracket on !

on the fron pillar tho there is a hook on the late van as opposed to a bolt on plate with a recess for the early doors rubber buffer to locate.

the later type hook looks like its welded to a plate on the inside of the pillar, so i will need to look at how big a hole i would need to cut to fit it. may be possible to fit through the front of the pillar once cleaned up.

[PEET]

Measure the actual door lengths as well Billy - hope it is that simple for u but must be a reason for it not to be done often? Not had the need to do it myself yet so would be interested!!